Air turbine



1933- o. NELSON 1,935,097

AIR TURBINE Filed Feb. 17. 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l TLQ Z. a

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AIR TURBINE I Filed Feb. 17. 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 u I J I /9 J 3 1 Patented Nov. 14, 1933 UNITED STATES PA'rENTIoFFIfcEf' 'f .Application February 17,1932. Serial No.. 593,525

' 4 Claims. (01. 170-15) Y My invention relates to an air turbine of a type in which a wind wheel rotates a vertical shaft and has blades or vanes'which may be acted upon by the wind, which shaft may be utilized for the take-off of power.

In the above type of air turbine an object and feature of my invention relates in part to the construction of the blades or vanes of a turbine and other features to the manner of admitting air and discharging. the air from the rotating blades. In regard to this latter feature afurther detailed-object relates to the employment of gates which may be utilized-to form a funnel to. drive the, air into the turbine. These gates may be controlledv by a remote control device to .bring. the free ends relatively close togetheror spaced apart to change, the area admitting the air.

Another detailed feature of my invention comprises an automatic regulator or governor depending on the velocity of the wind which will automatically restrict the amount of air supplied to the turbine when the wind pressure increases to a great extent and will open up the air. admission when the wind pressure decreases.

Another feature of myinvention relates to the manner of mounting the, air turbine on the top of a tower construction and in the manner of swinging the devicev to, be head onto the wind whereby the wind may be admitted to the vanes or blades of the turbine in the proper direction to utilize the driving force to best advantage.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation taken in the direction of the arrow 1 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a plan taken in the direction of the arrow 2 of Fig.1; 1

Fig. 3 isa vertical section substantially on the line 33 of Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is ,a horizontal section on the line 44 of Fig. 3 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section on the line 6-6 0 Fig. 2 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 7 is a partial section similar to Fig. 4 with the blades in a different position.

In my invention I employ a tower structure 11 which is indicated as having a series of legs 12,

a circular ring frame 13 at the top forming a track, an upper set of short posts 14, with an upper set of cross arms 15, there being a-lower set of cross arms 16 connecting the lower portion of these posts, these cross arms effecting a brace'from the topof the tower, and at the center of these cross arms :there-are enlargedlower and upper journals 17 and 18 through which extends a vertical shaft 19.. v s s The upperjournal 18 has an upperextension 20 with a shoulder 21, on which shouldenissupported a casing 22, this casing having'a horizon -tal top plate 23 and depending sides .24, such sides having a'semi-cylindrical portion 25' andjaupartially cylindrical section 26 from, which-:there extends forwardly a vertical side. plate .27; and rearwardly another vertical. side plate '28,:leav'ing a large intake opening 29 andaidischarge open-- ing 30. Secured to .the top of the. casing'there'v is an arm 31 to which is attached a wind fan32 to turn the casing in thedirection of the prevailing wind. This casing hasa series of guide rollers 33 at the bottom which rollon the outside of the circular track 13 and thus with the'cent'ering'bearzing at the top hold the casingproperly centered on the top. of the tower. "At. the'bo'ttom'of the casing there is a horizontal plate 34 with a forward extension35 and a rear plate 36, and at the top-there is a forwardlaterally-extending bracket 37 and a-rearwardly extending bracket 38and a forwardly extending arm 39, thisbein'g vertically above the extension plate '35.

The control gates for the turbine utilize a first gate 40 pivoted on a" vertical pivot 41 which-is secured to the casing. A second gate'42 has a' vertical pivot .43, this being'mounted on" the" forward extension plate '34 and the upper 'radialT arm 37.

Thegate 42 has a large opening 44' in whichis fitted a door 45, this having a hinge 46 secured thereto to regulate the air inlet by connection through an arm 47. Rigidly connected to this door there is a link 48 which is attached'to a radial arm 49, which latter arm is connected to a vertical pivot shaft 50, such shaft being journaled in the bottom plate 36 and the radial arm 39. The shaft 50 has a wind fan 51 at the top, this being above the top plate 23 of the casing and positioned to be acted upon by the free flowing wind, there being no obstruction to the flow of the wind. Hence, this fan is subject to the full air velocity and air pressure.

A retraction spring 52 with an adjusting connection 53 is secured between the pivot joint 54 of the arm 4'7 and the link 48 and the hinge or pivot 43'. This construction exerts a pull'on the arm 47 tending to close the door 45 and the gate 42. Y

The means to vary the opening for entrance of air utilizes a vertical shaft 55, this having a screw threaded section 56, this shaft having journals 57 in the extension plate and journals 58 in the forwardly extending arm 39. A nut 59 is threaded on the threaded screw 56 and to this nut there are pivotally connected a pair of links 60, each link being attached by a universal joint connection 61 to brackets 62 which are secured to the gates and 42. The shaft has a crank 63 at the bottom. Therefore, by rotating this crank the gates may be brought together or moved apart the full limit of the links 60, and when spread apart to the fullest extent they form a funnelshaped opening as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4 for the inflow of air. The movement of these gates or their adjustment does not interfere with the action of the wind fan 51 in regulating the opening of the door 45 but, manifestly, if the gates are substantially closed the opening of the door 45 would have substantially no effect.

The type of turbine 64 used comprises a plurality of turbine units 65, each having a hub 66 secured to the drive shaft 19, and from this hub extend a plurality of ribs 67, which ribs are illustrated as being formed of T-shaped bars with a web 68 extending horizontally and flanges 69 extending vertically. These ribs have a straight section 70 extending outwardly from a socket 71, these sockets being arranged substantially tangential to the hub. The ribs have a forward curved section '72 and secured to the front of each of the ribs there is a metal plate '73 extending from the outer end 74 to a position adjacent the holders, the plates then having a curved section 75 and being attached at the point '76 tothe back of the blade behind, considering the direction of rotation to be in that of the arrow 77.

In this type of blade, as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 7, the wind blowing in the pockets between the blades exerts a force on the ribs, and the rib for eachblade is positioned offset from the center of rotation. Therefore, there is no direct thrust in any position of the blades on the rotating shaft.

In order to build the turbine in units the hubs are made separate and the blades of each set are separated by upper and lower separating plates or disks '78 and 79.

From this construction it will be seen that the turbine is driven by the air entering through the air intake 29, which rotates the turbine and is discharged through the outlet 30. The-outlet is always open for free discharge but the intake, as above described, may be manually controlled by opening and closing the gates 40 and 42 or maybe i automatically controlled through the medium of the wind vane 51 regulating the opening of the door 45. V I

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim: 1. In a turbine construction, a tower having a casing with an intake and discharge opening and a,turbine operating Within the casing, the intake opening having a pair of pivoted gates, forwardly extending arms from the casing, a shaft journaled in said arms, said shaft having a screw with a nut threaded thereon, a pair of links connected to the nut and each having a universal pivoted connection to a gate whereby on rotating the shaft the gates may regulate the opening of the intake, one of the gates having an opening with a door pivoted adjacent thereto, a vertical rock shaft adjacent the casing and having a vane exposed above-the casing, and a lever and link connection from the rock shaft to the door to regulate the position of the door in reference to the intake in accordance with the flow of air operating the vane.

2. In an air turbine construction, a casing having anintake and a discharge opening, a turbine rotatably mounted in the casing, a gate pivotally mounted adjacent the intake opening, means to actuate said gate to regulate such intake opening, said gate having an opening therethrough with a door pivotally mounted adjacent the opening, a vertical rock shaft having a vane extending above the casing, and aconnection' from the rock shaft to the door to regulate the position of the door in reference to the intake opening.

3. In an air turbine construction as claimed in claim 2, a connection from the rock shaft to the door comprising a radial arm connected to the rock shaft, a link connected to said radial arm, and an arm rigidly connected to the door, the

link being connected to said rigid arm.

.door in reference to the said gate.

LEE 0. NELSON. 

